A festival for everyone!
From 8 to 10 October, the fourth international urban blues festival, Kaunas Blues, brings concerts by world-renowned artists to Kauno sporto halė and Volfas Engelman Galerija, alongside late-night jam sessions and a free daytime programme.
The festival brings together people from all walks of life — whoever you are, you will feel welcome. Blues brings us together!
EVENING CONCERTS
📅 8 October, 19:00 | Volfas Engelman Galerija / Festival opening
Ir visa tai kas yra gražu yra gražu (Lithuania)
Brushy One String (Jamaica)
Jam session after the concerts.
📅 9 October, 19:00 | Kauno sporto halė
Almare (UK / Italy / Morocco) – Justin Adams, Mauro Durante, Yousra Mansour, Alessia Tondo
Jovin Webb (USA)
📅 10 October, 19:00 | Kauno sporto halė
Robbin Kapsalis (USA)
Sugaray Rayford (USA)
Tickets:
20% discount when buying 4 or more tickets
Festival pass — 20% discount for concerts on 9 and 10 October
Festival pass — 30% discount for concerts on 8, 9 and 10 October (limited availability)
10% discount for seniors, university and school students, and people with disabilities
20% discount with a POLA card
Brushy One String (Jamaica)
Jamaican musician Brushy One String became a YouTube sensation more than a decade ago, and he is sure to be a major discovery and surprise for the audience at Kaunas Blues 2026. Playing a one-string guitar and singing beautifully, this artist — whose biggest hit, “Chicken In The Corn”, has surpassed 70 million plays — has also performed on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk. Brushy will bring entirely new colours to the festival while fitting perfectly into the broad musical world of Kaunas Blues.
Born Andrew Anthony Chin, the charismatic Jamaican has been through a great deal: his musician father died young, and he endured many hardships. Yet music accompanied him throughout his life. His mother sang almost constantly, and Andrew himself played in the streets from an early age. He played guitar, but, as he tells it, with such force that the strings kept breaking. Then, one night in a dream, he heard a clear voice telling him not to bother with six strings, but to play with just one. That was how he became Brushy One String — a distinctive artist known for his one-string guitar.
Success did not come immediately. The turning point in his musical life was a chance — or perhaps not-so-chance — encounter with documentary filmmaker Luciano Blotta, who was making a film about alternative Jamaican music. Fascinated by Brushy One String, the director used “Chicken In The Corn” in his film. After its release, Blotta felt that word about Brushy One String needed to spread further, and began working with him to bring his music to a wider audience.
Listeners discovered his unique music, in which several elements come together naturally: blues, soul and reggae — after all, soul and R&B are among reggae’s roots. Brushy One String’s voice and energy give it a wild, uplifting spirit, as does a guitar that sounds nothing like a guitar: just one string, yet full of percussion, melody and tremendous power.
Brushy One String has released several excellent albums, but seeing him live is like stepping into another dimension. Incredible charisma, inventiveness and originality. Echoes of Jamaica and its musical spirit. Few things could bring more warmth to a Lithuanian autumn.
Ir visa tai kas yra gražu yra gražu (Lithuania)
IVTKYGYG is a legendary seven-piece band that has been active for more than three decades, becoming a distinctive presence on Lithuania’s alternative music scene. The group has steadily developed its own sound, blending post-punk, funk and rock, and its music is heard not only in Lithuania but also on non-commercial radio stations across Europe.
The band’s music constantly balances sarcasm and irony with darker, macabre themes. This world of contrasts comes to life not only on recordings, but especially in live performances, where IVTKYGYG draws listeners into its distinctive stage act.
The group performs regularly at festivals and venues throughout Lithuania, releases albums and continually explores new forms of expression. Its performances stand out for their energy and unexpected choices: the band uses unusual instruments with distinctive sounds, introduces them to the audience and sometimes even lets people try them.
IVTKYGYG’s concert programme is usually presented in two parts, yet every performance remains unpredictable. It is a living, raw and constantly changing musical organism, promising new experiences and musical surprises every time.
Jovin Webb (USA)
Based in Louisiana, a place celebrated in countless blues songs, Jovin Webb represents the very heart and foundation of the genre at Kaunas Blues 2026. Every year, the festival features at least one artist who authentically channels the powerful spirit of the American South. This year, we will feel it especially strongly through Jovin Webb.
In music that does not shy away from difficult subjects, Jovin Webb’s authenticity is heard first and foremost in his remarkable voice — solid as a rock, yet dynamic and full of raw energy. The voice of a true bluesman.
The beginning of Jovin Webb’s musical journey was not easy. His appearance on American Idol opened doors, and he stepped through them to establish himself in the contemporary blues world. People heard his rich, full-bodied and convincing voice, were moved by his sensitive, powerful and candid songs, and his career began to gather momentum. His debut album, “Drifter”, released in 2024, combines blues, soul and other Southern influences, strengthening his ascent towards the heights of contemporary blues.
“Drifter” is sometimes described as blues seeking gospel’s salvation. “The album is me singing about religion, women, my career and everything I’ve been through,” says Jovin. This is not nostalgic traditionalism. It is the personal blues of a contemporary individual, relevant to any present-day fan of the genre. Of course, he did not create this sound alone: the renowned, multiple Grammy-winning producer Tom Hambridge, who has worked with Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, also worked on the album.
Rich, assured and taking us back to the essence of the blues, Jovin Webb’s music simply has to be heard at Kaunas Blues. It embodies not only the roots, but also the present and the essence of the genre. Without losing its core, blues evolves and remains relevant. Jovin Webb is the perfect example.
Almare (UK / Italy / Morocco)
One of the hallmarks of Kaunas Blues is its artists who move beyond the boundaries of blues and freely explore the musical traditions of different cultures, while retaining the echoes and spirit of the genre. This year, that approach is represented by the remarkable international project Almare.
The quartet brings together four acclaimed masters of their craft: Justin Adams, Yousra Mansour, Alessia Tondo and Mauro Durante. Justin Adams is a British guitarist well known for his work with Robert Plant and his substantial contribution to contemporary world music. Yousra Mansour is a Moroccan vocalist and instrumentalist known for the band Bab L’ Bluz, with which she skilfully brings traditional Moroccan sounds into the present. Alessia Tondo is an Italian vocalist and percussionist who brings the musical spirit of southern Italy. Mauro Durante, a violinist, percussionist and vocalist, comes from the same region as Alessia. All four grew as musicians with deep roots in their own musical traditions, but gradually began seeking a dialogue with the music of other places and the contemporary world, embarking on the most unexpected collaborations. Meanwhile, Adams, a Briton who grew up in the Middle East, acts as the project’s ultimate mediator, bringing together everything that might at first seem distant and different.
Almare’s live performances are unforgettable and extraordinarily powerful experiences. Perhaps even ritualistic ones, taking listeners back to what music is at its core. Participants in this ritual immerse themselves in primal, trance-inducing rhythms, free and liberating improvisations, and beautiful melodies. Spontaneity is one of the defining features of Almare’s concerts, making every performance unique.
Robbin Kapsalis (USA)
Blues divas have been an inseparable part of the genre since its earliest days. Think of Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Big Mama Thornton and the other queens of the blues. This tradition continues today, and no serious blues festival is complete without a blues prima donna. At this year’s Kaunas Blues, that role belongs to Robbin Kapsalis.
The owner of a strong, fiery voice, Robbin Kapsalis grew up in Chicago, the capital of electric blues, and it is clearly audible in her music: every note of her voice sounds authentic and organic, every sound carries the breath of tradition and a natural ease. She later developed musically in Atlanta, absorbing its local influences. Blues blended naturally with soul and, of course, took on contemporary shades.
In 2017, the singer released her debut album, “Grit”, with the band Vintage #18, setting her career in motion. Over ten years, Robbin and the band released two albums, but after the death of a member, they agreed to go their separate ways. Robbin Kapsalis threw herself into a solo career and an increasingly busy touring schedule. In 2025, she released “Blues Is In The House”, featuring both her own songs, appreciated for their lyrics as well as their music, and blues classics such as Memphis Slim’s “The Comeback”.
The blues tradition and her own role in carrying it forward matter deeply to Robbin Kapsalis. Although this can be heard on her recordings, she believes that live performance is the key to keeping the authentic spirit of blues alive. That is her strength, as is her instinct for finding light — a quality often shared by blues musicians who grew up in difficult circumstances. “Enjoy every moment... Remember that a smile costs you nothing... Treat people as you would like them to treat you.” These are Robbin Kapsalis’s guiding principles, reflected in both her music and her live performances.
Sugaray Rayford (USA)
Blues has always been music that, despite its association with hardship and its willingness to embrace darker shades, also carries an incredible charge of joy and exuberance. Sugaray Rayford is exactly the kind of artist who can start a party that leaves no one in the audience standing still. His extraordinary wave of positivity and power is sure to get the Kaunas Blues audience moving too.
Raised in a poor family in Texas and losing his mother at an early age, Caron “Sugaray” Rayford was already playing drums in church at seven — the influence of gospel can still be heard in his music. At fifteen, he became the vocalist of Urban Gypsys, later singing with Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz and Mannish Boys. In 2010, the time finally came for a solo career, beginning with the album “Blind Alley”, followed by several other strong releases. His latest album, “Human Decency”, released in 2024, invites us to remember a simple but essential truth: more unites us than divides us, and we are, above all, human beings with hearts and minds.
Sugaray Rayford has become an artist loved by audiences and respected by critics, winning numerous awards. His album “In Too Deep” received a Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Album of the Year, and he has also been nominated for a Grammy. These are just a few examples of the recognition he has received.
Sugaray Rayford’s music reflects the strand of blues history in which the genre blended freely and confidently with soul, funk and R&B, while welcoming the spirit of gospel. Pain, wisdom, hardship, sadness and euphoria all come together, pouring out in an utterly exuberant celebration. Taking it all in and living here and now with the greatest possible joy — that seems to be what Sugaray Rayford’s music is about. And, of course, it is felt most powerfully in his live performances, when he fully reveals his charisma and opens his soul.
“I bring sugar along with the salt,” says Sugaray Rayford, and his concerts always leave listeners’ hearts full of joy and a sense of togetherness. Isn’t that what real blues is all about?
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The festival is funded by Kaunas City Municipality and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Photography and filming will take place during the event. Photos and videos may be used to promote the event on social media, websites, in the press and elsewhere.